History quiz questions spanning the ages

History is one of the best subjects for a quiz round because everyone knows something, even if it's just the one date they remember from school. It also scales in every direction: you can keep things easy with famous dates and civilisations, or go deep into the kind of detail that only separates the true history buffs from the rest of the room.

These 38 questions run from ancient civilisations through medieval Europe, the age of revolutions, and into the 20th century, with a section on famous historical figures along the way. They're organised into headed sections and roughly ordered easy to hard within each, so pick and choose what suits your crowd, or run the whole thing as a themed history night. If you want a broader mix of topics to pair alongside it, our general knowledge quiz questions cover a lot of the same ground plus science, geography, and pop culture.

Ancient History

These cover the civilisations most people have at least heard of, even if the details are hazy.

1Which ancient civilisation built the pyramids at Giza?

Answer:The ancient Egyptians(click to reveal)

2In which modern-day country would you find the ruins of ancient Babylon?

Answer:Iraq (Babylon sat on the Euphrates, not far from modern Baghdad)(click to reveal)

3Which Greek city-state was known above all for its strict military training and disciplined warrior culture?

Answer:Sparta(click to reveal)

4Who became the first emperor of Rome, ruling from 27 BC?

Answer:Augustus (born Octavian, he was Julius Caesar's adopted heir and great-nephew)(click to reveal)

5Which ancient wonder of the world, a giant bronze statue standing in a Greek harbour, was toppled by an earthquake?

Answer:The Colossus of Rhodes (brought down by an earthquake around 226 BC)(click to reveal)

6What defensive wall did the Romans build across the north of England?

Answer:Hadrian's Wall(click to reveal)

7Which ancient people, based in Mesopotamia, developed cuneiform, one of the earliest known writing systems?

Answer:The Sumerians(click to reveal)

8In which Chinese city were thousands of life-sized clay soldiers discovered, buried to guard the tomb of the country's first emperor?

Answer:Xi'an (farmers digging a well stumbled onto the Terracotta Army in 1974)(click to reveal)

9Which Egyptian queen allied herself with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony?

Answer:Cleopatra(click to reveal)

10What name is given to the network of ancient trade routes that connected China with the Mediterranean world?

Answer:The Silk Road(click to reveal)

The Middle Ages

From the Norman Conquest to the fall of Constantinople, this stretch of history covers about 400 years of shifting power in Europe and beyond.

11In which year did William the Conqueror defeat King Harold at the Battle of Hastings?

Answer:1066(click to reveal)

12What document, sealed by King John in 1215, limited the power of the English crown for the first time?

Answer:Magna Carta(click to reveal)

13What name is given to the plague pandemic that swept through Europe in the mid-14th century?

Answer:The Black Death (estimates vary, but it's thought to have killed somewhere between a third and half of Europe's population)(click to reveal)

14What was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, known as after the western half collapsed?

Answer:The Byzantine Empire(click to reveal)

15Which 13th-century leader united the Mongol tribes and went on to build what's considered the largest contiguous land empire in history?

Answer:Genghis Khan (the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Hungary to the Yellow Sea)(click to reveal)

16Which French peasant girl claimed divine guidance, led French troops to victory during the Hundred Years' War, and was later burned at the stake?

Answer:Joan of Arc(click to reveal)

17In what year did Constantinople fall to the Ottoman Empire, bringing the Byzantine Empire to an end?

Answer:1453(click to reveal)

Wars and Revolutions

A run through some of the conflicts and uprisings that reshaped borders, governments, and everyday life.

18What 1789 event, in which Parisians stormed a fortress prison, is seen as the start of the French Revolution?

Answer:The storming of the Bastille(click to reveal)

19In which year did the First World War break out?

Answer:1914(click to reveal)

20The assassination of which Austro-Hungarian royal figure, in Sarajevo, directly triggered the outbreak of the First World War?

Answer:Archduke Franz Ferdinand(click to reveal)

21A 1917 revolution brought down the Russian monarchy and eventually led to the rise of the Soviet Union. What is this revolution known as?

Answer:The Russian Revolution (led by Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks)(click to reveal)

22On what date in 1944 did Allied forces land on the beaches of Normandy?

Answer:6 June (D-Day)(click to reveal)

23Which war, fought between the Union and the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865, led to the abolition of slavery in the United States?

Answer:The American Civil War(click to reveal)

24Which Cold War-era conflict saw the United States back South Vietnam against the communist North?

Answer:The Vietnam War(click to reveal)

25Which French general, who rose to power in the aftermath of the French Revolution, crowned himself Emperor in 1804?

Answer:Napoleon Bonaparte(click to reveal)

Historical Figures

Some of the individuals whose decisions, discoveries, or convictions changed the course of history.

26Which Italian explorer's 1492 voyage, funded by the Spanish crown, reached the Americas?

Answer:Christopher Columbus(click to reveal)

27Who was queen of England when the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588?

Answer:Elizabeth I (her reign also produced the golden age of Elizabethan theatre, including a young William Shakespeare)(click to reveal)

28Whose 1859 book laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection?

Answer:Charles Darwin (the book was "On the Origin of Species")(click to reveal)

29Which South African anti-apartheid leader spent 27 years in prison before becoming his country's president?

Answer:Nelson Mandela (he was released in February 1990 after his arrest in 1962)(click to reveal)

30Who served as the first President of the United States?

Answer:George Washington(click to reveal)

31Which British Prime Minister led the country through most of the Second World War?

Answer:Winston Churchill(click to reveal)

The Modern World

The 20th century onwards, from the space race to the events that shaped the world we live in now.

32Which country sent the first human into space in 1961?

Answer:The Soviet Union (the cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin)(click to reveal)

33In which year did the Berlin Wall come down, reuniting a divided European capital after almost three decades?

Answer:1989(click to reveal)

34Which US president was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in November 1963?

Answer:John F. Kennedy(click to reveal)

35Which 1969 mission landed the first humans on the Moon?

Answer:Apollo 11 (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface while Michael Collins orbited above)(click to reveal)

36What is the name commonly given to the coordinated terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001?

Answer:9/11(click to reveal)

37Which international organisation, founded in 1945 to promote peace and cooperation between nations, replaced the earlier League of Nations?

Answer:The United Nations(click to reveal)

38In which year did India gain independence from British rule?

Answer:1947(click to reveal)

Tips for Running a History Round

Mix the eras. Don't let a history round turn into a Second World War quiz by accident. Spreading questions across ancient, medieval, and modern history keeps things fair for people who know one period well but not another.

Decide how strict you'll be on dates. For big, famous events like 1066 or 1945, ask for the exact year. For anything less iconic, accepting the right decade or even the right century keeps the round moving and avoids arguments over a single digit.

Watch the difficulty curve. Front-load a round with names and dates most people will recognise, then save trickier questions, like specific figures or lesser-known revolutions, for the back half. It keeps everyone engaged instead of losing the room early.

Give partial credit sparingly. History answers often have a "close enough" version (someone says "the Ottomans" instead of the specific sultan, for example). Decide your house rules on this before the round starts so it's consistent across teams.

Looking to build a full quiz night around this? Our quiz creator lets you put rounds like these together and run them however suits your group.